Drifblim is Fantina's main Pokémon in the anime. It was hatched from an Egg prior to the start of the series.
Drifblim and Fantina
Drifblim first appeared as a Drifloon in Playing The Leveling Field!. It was the only Pokémon Fantina used in an unofficial battle against Ash despite it being three-on-three. Its first opponent was Buizel. Drifloon was easily able to dodge Buizel's Water Gun and countered with Ominous Wind. After getting hit by Aqua Jet, Drifloon turned the tables by putting Buizel to sleep. Drifloon then notably lifted the sleeping Buizel up in the air, despite his far greater weight, and finished him off with Psychic. Chimchar was the next opponent Drifloon battled. Chimchar started with Flamethrower which was countered by Psychic. Drifloon then used Will-O-Wisp on Chimchar which successfully made contact. Drifloon used Hypnosis which put Chimchar to sleep, causing Ash to recall it. During Drifloon's battle against Pikachu, it once again used Will-O-Wisp where it was able to make contact with Pikachu. Pikachu responded with Thunderbolt, which Drifloon shook off. Drifloon used Ominous Wind and clashed with Pikachu's Volt Tackle. Drifloon's Ominous Wind stopped Pikachu's Volt Tackle. However, Pikachu used Thunderbolt once more and easily made contact. The impact caused Drifloon to evolve into Drifblim. It used its newfound speed to dodge Pikachu's Thunderbolt and put him to sleep, forcing Ash to forfeit.
It reappeared in a flashback in Losing Its Lustrous, where Ash recalled the time it put Pikachu to sleep.
Ash officially challenged Fantina to a Gym battle in Shield with a Twist!. She called Drifblim out as her final Pokémon where it went up against Pikachu. After Pikachu hit Drifblim with Thunderbolt, Drifblim used Psychic to control Will-O-Wisp and make it rotate rapidly around its body, improving Ash's own shielding strategy he had tried to use against her. Drifblim used the Counter Shield strategy to render Pikachu's Thunderbolt useless. It used the strategy again to prevent Pikachu from moving and used another strategy by coming in close and grabbed the opponent, then executing Hypnosis at point-blank range. Pikachu was then finished off with Ominous Wind. Buizel went up next and Drifblim used the Counter Shield strategy again to negate Buizel's Water Gun but it didn't work. Drifblim then used Will-O-Wisp while Buizel used Water Pulse, both attacks clashed which threw Buizel off guard. This gave Drifblim a chance to use the same strategy that it used on Pikachu to put Buizel to sleep. Buizel was then finished with Psychic.
Ash's Chimchar was up in the final match. Drifblim used Will-O-Wisp to cancel out Chimchar's Flame Wheel. As the shield was made of Will-O-Wisp and Psychic, and Will-O-Wisp was a Fire-type move, this gave Ash an idea. He had Chimchar use Flamethrower so that Drifblim can use Counter Shield. Chimchar was able to overpower and destroy Drifblim's shield, with Drifblim getting hit by Chimchar's purple-colored Flamethrower and the power of its own Will-O-Wisp. Drifblim attacked with Ominous Wind but Chimchar evaded with Dig. Chimchar leaps up, grabs Drifblim, and slams it to the ground. Chimchar then ultimately defeats Drifblim with Flamethrower, earning Ash the Relic Badge.
It reappeared in a flashback in League Unleashed!, when Ash was recalling the time he got the Relic Badge from her. Drifblim also briefly appeared alongside Fantina during the ending credits of Zoroark: Master of Illusions.
Personality and characteristics
Drifblim appears to be Fantina's favorite Pokémon as her designs are made after it. Drifblim, as a Drifloon, can easily shake off any attack regardless of type during battle. It continued to do so after evolving.
Description: Counter Shield was used in Shield with a Twist! during Ash's Gymbattle against Fantina. Drifblim uses Will-O-Wisp to surround its body in fireballs. It then uses Psychic to move the fireballs in two circles. Drifblim can either shoot the flames as an attack or keep the fireballs around it as a defense tactic.
Unlike in the anime, Drifblim is not Fantina's main Pokémon in her battles; she doesn't even use her (even as a Drifloon) in her official Gym battle against the player in Pokémon Platinum. However, she uses it in at least one battle in every game she has appeared in: Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum and Black 2 and White 2. Fantina also uses Drifblim in Master RankSuper Contests, in which she is nicknamed Loony (Japanese: ばるんBarun).
Drifblim was later used in Mirages of Mismagius I, battling in Platinum's Gym battle against Fantina where it was defeated by her Empoleon's Blizzard, which froze her Ominous Wind. As Platinum's party needed a quicker means to reach Canalave City, Drifblim was lent to them for an aerial route. When Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum split up to stop Team Galactic's attacks on Sinnoh's three lakes, however, Drifblim remained with Diamond and was used against Mars at Lake Verity. Though she suffered heavy damage at the hands of Mars' Yanmega and Purugly, Drifblim was able to help Diamond reach and infiltrate Team Galactic's air shuttle and was consequently split.
She was eventually taken to Pearl by Johanna at Pastoria City, alongside Tru and Kit and was used during the final battle at Spear Pillar, where she attempted to pull her Trainer away from a hole created by Dialga and Palkia's battle. The force of the hole's vacuum overpowered Drifblim, but she and Fantina were rescued by Regigigas before they could be sucked inside.
A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves.
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!
Drifblim in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!
Drifblim first appeared in The Legendary Pokémon Appears! where it was fighting Team Galactic along with the other Gym Leaders' Pokémon.
In Bonds Connect Across Space-Time..., Drifblim fought alongside the Gym Leaders' Pokémon against Dialga and Palkia to protect Hareta. It was overpowered by the two Legendary Pokémon at first. With quick thinking on Cyrus and Hareta's part by forcing Dialga to use Roar of Time, Drifblim was given the chance for a group attack which sent both Dialga and Palkia back into their own world.
Trivia
Drifblim is the only Pokémon in the anime to have used the move Ominous Wind.
Names
Language
Name
Origin
Japanese
ばるん Barun
From balloon
English
Loony
From balloon
German
Drifzi
From Drifzepeli, Drifblim
Italian
Blimby
From Drifblim
Spanish
Globor
From globo, balloon
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Drifloon and Drifblim.
